1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to telecommunication services and, more particularly, to means and methods for accessing telecommunication services.
2. Description of Prior Art
The telephone arts have progressed to the point where many sophisticated features are provided to users in addition to "plain old telephone service" (POTS) which merely connects a calling party to a called party. One such feature, for example, permits diversion of an incoming call when the called party is already busy with another conversation. This is a capability that is not available with POTS service even when users employ a customer premises telephone answering system (since the latter works only when the called party is unavailable).
It is expected that, in the near future, the inter-exchange carriers will wish to offer the very same features that are currently offered by the local exchange carriers. Indeed, it is expected that all carriers will desire to offer many multi-media services. The inter-exchange carriers currently do not have a direct coupling to the customers. Therefore, customers must dial a specific number in order to reach enhanced telecommunication services offered by inter-exchange carriers. The problem is that such an approach requires users to remember and use a number that, perhaps, is difficult to remember and varies from locale to locale. Moreover, once that number is reached, the calling party must identify itself. It would be advantageous to have a number that is easy to remember and, at the same time, is unique.